AJINKYA RAHANE

Mudassar Nazar was a pretty handy cricketer, more than bits-and-pieces but just short of a genuine allrounder. In a Pakistani line-up fill of glittering stroke makers, he provided the solidity - some would say extremely so - that encouraged the artists to bat around the artisan. In 76 Tests between...

Perth: Ajinkya Rahane is an unlikely hero. Unlike many of his team-mates, flash is the last thing on his mind. He is not one of the in-your-face types; he is more understated and studied. See Ajinkya Rahane, and immediately you see serious. You see committed. You see determined. It's not...

Perth: Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that talented Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane is one player who has improved by leaps and bounds in recent times and is ready to don any hat for the team's cause.
His 60-ball-79 against South Africa was equally important in the final context of...

This could so easily have been Mumbai or Mohali, given the sea of blue that drove the Indian team and the profusion of Indian flags across the vast expanse of the hugely populated stands. In reality, this was the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia's pride and joy, by a distance the...

(Former India captain and chief selector Kris Srikkanth, IBN World Cup Cricket Expert, is contributing exclusively for IBNLive Sports. Catch him Live in pre- and post-match shows throughout the ICC World Cup 2015 only on CNN-IBN and IBN7)
Not often you find fielding among the top three bullet points contributing to...

There is a reason most of us compare cricket with life that is a great leveller, one of it being the great unpredictability that the sport offers in a matter of couple of hours where the fortunes of a side change at the drop of a hat.
Never in the wildest...

Melbourne: He has taken guard in different positions and came at seven in India's latest World Cup victory against Pakistan but key batsman Ajinkya Rahane does not mind being shuffled in the batting order.
26-year-old Rahane, who has played 47 ODIs and 14 Tests, said that the batting technique remains the...

Adelaide: India opener Shikhar Dhawan on Sunday expressed satisfaction to be back among runs ahead of the cricket World Cup after snapping his prolonged run drought with a fifty against Australia in their first warm-up game.
In India's mammoth run-chase of 372, Dhawan looked confident and determined as he blasted five...

Rapid centuries by Glenn Maxwell and David Warner lifted Australia to a 106-run win over India in a warm-up match on Sunday that built up their prospect for the World Cup while leaving India winless in the dry Australian summer.
Maxwell slammed 122 from 57 balls before retiring and Warner hit...

Perth: Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed the batsmen for Friday's loss against England in the virtual semi-final of the tri-series here.
England booked a berth in the final of the One-Day International (ODI) series against Australia, courtesy a three-wicket win over India at the WACA.
"When we started batting, I...

It seemed the Adelaide nightmare will return to haunt India in the final session of the Sydney Test as well, but some sensible batting by Ajinkya Rahane and Bhuvneshwar Kumar allowed the hosts to overcome a five-wicket loss post tea to secure a nervous draw but lose the Border-Gavaskar Trophy...

Sydney: The sudden decision of Mahendra Singh Dhoni to retire from Test cricket has also given rise to a question as to who will be Virat Kohli's deputy with the names of Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin emerging as possible candidates.
"It will be interesting to see what is the choice...

Melbourne: India's premier batsman Virat Kohli on Sunday said, it was unusual to see Australia drop so many catches.
Kohli (169) and Ajinkya Rahane (147), primary beneficiaries of Australia's generosity, scored fine centuries to help India launch an inspired reply to the home team's huge first innings score of 530, reaching...

Virat Kohli (169) and Ajinkya Rahane (147) notched up fine centuries before Australia scalped five wickets in the final session to reduce India to 462/8 at stumps on Day 3 of the third Test on Sunday in Melbourne.
Kohli was out in the last over of the day when Brad...

The third day of the Test match and the morning session pretty much tells you which way the Test match is going but a Australia-India Test series has its own share of twists and turns as most of us in India woke up to a chilly morning, only to find...

India failed to drive home the advantage of a good start as Australia bowled them out for 408 on day two, thanks to Josh Hazlewood's 5 for 68 on debut, and then reached 221 for 4 at stumps after Umesh Yadav's triple strike kept India's hopes of taking a first-innings...

(For ball-by-ball commentary scroll down to the bottom of the page)
Day 1 Round-up: Murali Vijay made up for the disappointment of his 99 in the first Test on Australia tour with his fifth century on day one of the second as India bagged the honours by reaching 311 for 4...

Brisbane: His four Test hundreds out of five career tons have come while playing against the Australians and Indian opener Murali Vijay on Wednesday attributed his special liking for the Aussies to the inspiration he got from the great knocks of legendary cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar.
Vijay scored 144 runs on...

Murali Vijay made up for the disappointment of his 99 in the first Test on Australia tour with his fifth century on day one of the second as India bagged the honours on Thursday by reaching 311 for 4 at stumps.
The day ended seven overs short of the stipulated 90...

Adelaide: Left facing a big lead on the fourth day of the first Test against Australia, Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane on Friday said that his team will have to be calm and patient on the fifth and final day to remain in contention.
Riding David Warner's century, the hosts ended Friday...

Adelaide: Spin legend Shane Warne praised Australian spinner Nathan Lyon for being brave and flighting the ball to induce mistakes by the Indian batsmen on the third day of the first Test match at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Lyon picked up two of the five wickets to fall on day...

A series that had the potential to be a closely contested one had so far been a major disappointment, after all it is a contest between the World Cup finalists, but India have looked a side that can win against Sri Lanka even while sleep-walking.
The Lankan team, boasting the likes...

After starting the series with a crushing victory, an upbeat India will aim to maintain their stranglehold over an under-prepared Sri Lanka when they meet in the second ODI in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Needless to say that India will be starting as overwhelming favourites at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera,...

There was only one team playing at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday, where India first scored 363 for 5 and then came back to complete a whopping 169-run win over Sri Lanka producing some interesting stats.
While Ajinkya Rahane scoring an ODI hundred is turning into a lucky charm...

Cuttack: As Indian openers pounded the hapless Sri Lankans to rattle up a 231-run stand, Shikhar Dhawan said it was a good sign for the Indian team that top-order batsmen were in good form and his own confidence has shot up after playing a century-knock on Sunday.
Dhawan top scored for...